Ministers urge Brussels to further ease new post-Brexit border rules amid growing concerns of summer holiday travel chaos

Published: 11:49, 16 July 2026 | Updated: 11:55, 16 July 2026 Ministers have privately urged Brussels to further ease new post-Brexit border rules amid growing concerns they could plunge the great summer getaway into chaos, it emerged today. Heidi Alexander, the Transport Secretary, is understood to have told Eurocrats to show ‘pragmatism’ and be ‘flexible’ to avoid UK holidaymakers facing queues of five hours or more from this weekend. During a ‘candid’ meeting on Tuesday with the bloc’s transport chief, she is understood to have called for measures which allow EU countries to suspend the new rules when queues build up to be extended beyond the summer. They currently expire in September. She also told Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the EU commissioner for transport, that EU countries should be allowed to suspend the new rules - known as the Entry-Exit System (EES) - whenever they need to. It comes as schools break up for the summer from this weekend, which will bring the usual family holiday rush. There are fears of huge queues at Dover, with the port braced for its busiest weekend of the year. The Government has already secured Lydden Hill motor racing track, about five miles from the port, as an emergency site to hold cars as a last resort if EES queues build on roads to the port and Eurotunnel in Folkestone. The new border system introduced by Brussels requires non-EU citizens to give their biometric details, but critics say its roll-out has been botched  Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has called for a 'pragmatic and flexible' approach to the new EES system this summer  The new border system requires non-EU citizens to give their biometric details - a photo and fingerprints - on entry and when leaving the bloc to ensure they don’t overstay  Some airports in Europe also don’t have enough infrastructure or staff, threatening huge queues of five hours or more in arrivals and departures lounges. The new system, which came into full effect in April, requires non-EU citizens to give their biometric details - a photo and fingerprints - on entry and when leaving the bloc to ensure they don’t overstay. It applies to Britons as a result of Brexit. First-time crossings can take longer due to registrations. Ms Alexander today told the Mail: ‘I am working with EU and French colleagues to ensure there is a pragmatic and flexible approach to EES this summer. ‘We are doing everything in our power to keep holidaymakers and hauliers moving. ‘We are also investing over £20 million to help improve vehicle flow and increase passport booth capacity at Dover to help reduce delays. ‘I will do everything in my power to ensure people can enjoy their hard-earned holidays this summer.’ It is understood she did not ask for Britons to be exempt from the system during her meeting because Brussels has repeatedly rebuffed UK requests to do this despite the fact millions travel for their holidays there each year. Eurocrats have, however, allowed the 29 countries who are members of the bloc’s free-movement Schengen zone and subject to the rules - including hotspots like Spain, France and Italy - to suspend the system for short windows during busy times. But national border forces are supposed to re-apply every time there are bottlenecks and only when a problem arises, rather than proactively. As it stands, the flexibilities only last until September. There are fears that once the peak summer season gets underway, and passenger numbers spike, there could be queues of longer than five hours at some hubs. UK passengers were left stranded in an Italian airport in April due to the EES system. Around 100 passengers due to return to Manchester Airport on an EasyJet flight from Milan's Linate airport were stuck in three-hour queues as their flight departed without them. It came as it emerged the bloc’s introduction of a new visa waiver, under which Britons will have to pay £17 to enter the bloc, appears to have been delayed. Passengers were forced to endure queues of three hours at Milan Linate in April, leaning easyJet passengers due to fly to Manchester stranded The EU's new EES system requires registering biometric data on entry and exit, but some airports don't have adequate infrastructure or staffing levels The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias) had been due to launch in the last three months of the year. But mentions of its introduction have disappeared from the official Etias website, which instead says it is ‘currently not in operation and no applications for travel authorisations are collected at this point’. Etias is a visa waiver that non-EU nationals from 59 countries, including the UK, will have to get before visiting the 29 Schengen countries, plus Cyprus. It likely now won’t be introduced until at least next year. An EU Commission spokesman said: ‘All efforts are being made to limit the impact on travellers from outside the EU.’